No Boxing Day results will ever come close to the free-scoring football seen on 26th December, 1963, when across the 10 games played, the old First Division produced no less than 66 goals. Maybe it was the spirit of the age. The Beatles were at the start of a run of three years at 
Christmas number one, singing ‘I Want to Hold Your Hand’ while First Division footballers were flying at each other and crashing in goals like never before.
Here are the full scores from that fateful festive fixture list.
First Division Results / 26th December, 1963:
Blackpool 1-5 Chelsea
Burnley 6-1 Man United
Fulham 10-1 Ipswich
Leicester 2-0 Everton
Liverpool 6-1 Stoke
Forest 3-3 Sheffield United
Sheffield Wednesday 3-0 Bolton
West Brom 4-4 Tottenham
West Ham 2-8 Blackburn
It’s fair to say that if those fixtures were around today, then Gary Lineker and friends would have the devil’s own job deciding which game to put on first. Fans were truly spoilt for choice, but did you know that the return fixture to each tie took place two days later, with every side meeting their Boxing Day hosts at their place instead, apart from Liverpool and Stoke, whose game was abandoned, replaced in the schedule by Arsenal’s visit to Birmingham.
Thrashings galore
Blackpool’s 5-1 defeat against Chelsea saw the away team four up in no time at all, with the brilliantly-named Barry Bridges notching two for the West London side. The man who would be England Manager, Terry Venables, scored the fifth and final goal for The Blues. In the return fixture, Chelsea ‘did the double’ as they were 1-0 victors. To this day, Blackpool probably get nose-bleeds crossing the Kings Road.
Burnley’s 6-1 home win against a visiting Manchester United side was as surprising as it was comprehensive. United were just four points from the summit as they travelled to Turf Moor, but were torn apart, in particular by Andy Lochhead who scored four goals for the hosts. Back at Old Trafford two days later, however, the Red Devils got their revenge, almost mirroring their Boxing Day defeat by winning 5-1.
Fulham thumped the ‘Tractor Boys of Ipswich 10-1, giving soon-to-be England World Cup winning manager Alf Ramsey much to think about, with Bobby Howfield scoring a hat-trick as Ipswich continued on their path to conceding 121 league goals that year. Oddly, the reverse fixture saw a modicum of revenge handed out to the London lads, the final score of Ipswich 4-2 Fulham a false prophecy for how the Suffolk side’s season would end up.
Liverpool beat Stoke City 6-1, with four from Roger Hunt as the Mersey Men made merry at Anfield on their way to winning the league title that season. No reverse fixture was played, but in the Birmingham vs. Arsenal tie, the North London side triumphed 4-1.
At Hillsborough, Sheffield Wednesday beat Bolton Wanderers 3-0, only to lose the return fixture by the exact same scoreline. But the other big win of the day came in East London. West Ham United were thrashed 8-2 at home by Blackburn Rovers, with both Fred Pickering and Andy McEvoy both scoring hat-tricks. West Ham would win the return game 3-1.
High score draws
There were three Boxing Day fixtures that ended with honours even, and bagfuls of goals on either side. Nottingham Forest and Sheffield United drew 3-3 at the City Ground, with The Blades coming from 3-0 down to grab a draw only for Forest to win the game on December 28th at Bramall Lane by two goals to one.
At The Hawthorns, it was West Bromwich Albion 4-4 Tottenham Hotspur, with Spurs racing into a 4-2 lead thanks to Jimmy Greaves’ double. The Baggies weren’t to be denied, however, with goals from future England assistant manager Don Howe and the amusingly named Micky Fudge. West Brom took that comeback form into the return leg, winning 2-0 at White Hart Lane.
Finally, at Molineux, Wolves and Aston Villa shared six goals in a game that, incredibly, was goalless at half-time. Perhaps the tannoy announcer read out the other scores and the players were shamed into action. Either way, half a dozen goals flew in during the second half, with strikes from players such as Vic Crowe and two from Ray Crawford. Not satisfied with being level at the end of the Boxing Day game, the return fixture at Villa Park finished 2-2.
The legacy of the 1963 Boxing Day fixtures will never be forgotten, but is it too much to hope for that the Premier League teams will take notice and all line up in all-out attack formations, just for one year? Yes. Father Christmas can only work so many miracles.
